AN OXFORD hospital is helping young girls at risk of infertility improve their chances of giving birth later in life.
The heart valve bank at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Headington, is a collaboration between OUHT, The Oxford Fertility Unit (OFU), the University of Oxford and the Heart Valve Bank, has been cryo-preserving ovarian tissue from girls as young as two since 2013.
Consultant Paediatric Oncologist Dr Sheila Lane, it has been encouraged by the news of a pregnancy of a woman in Belgium using re-implanted tissue this week to take their pilot project further.
The woman, who had her ovarian tissue removed at the age of 13 when she needed chemotherapy, gave birth at the age of 27 in November last year.
Dr Lane, the clinical lead for ovarian tissue cryopreservation in Oxford, said: “The announcement and the publicity of the case in Belgium has given us the opportunity to tell people what we have been doing.
“It is no longer just theory “It give us the hope to keep going with our work.”
She added: “It’s such an exciting programme and we are keen to take it to a wider audience.”
The John Radcliffe is the only place in England and Wales undertaking the procedure of collecting and storing ovarian tissue with a view to re-implanting it.
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